Chair



Dec. 14, 193 7,

R. H. WILLIAMS CHAIR Filed March 1, 1937 I! ff;

6. Cwl M fiowwg Patented Dec. 14, 1937 STATES g am CHAIR Roy H. Williams, Taunton, Mass. 1

Application March 1,

3 claims.

This invention relates to chairs and more particularly to chairs used on lawns, piazzas and 'lik places, usually made of wood;

One object of my invention is to provide a chair the main supporting parts of which are so interlocked with each other as to result in a rigid construction that will not permit any side or forward or backward weaving of saidparts which is so common in wooden lawn chairs. A further object is to so form the parts of said chair that they may be cut from lumber by quantity production machinery with such uniformity and interchangeability that they may be assembled and completed by relatively unskilled labor, with the result that a chair is provided that is comparable in strength and rigidity with high priced chairs and whose production cost is substantially that of the lower priced chairs.

The foregoing and other objects'which will 7 appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, may be accomplished by a construction, combination and arrangement of parts such as is disclosed .bythe drawing and specification. The nature of the invention is such as to render it susceptible to various changes and modifications, and, therefore, I am not to be limited to said disclosure; changes therefrom as fall within the scope of my claims.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a perspective view of my chair.

Figure 2 is a view partly in section taken on the line 22 of Figure l with the front slat of the seat and the front reinforcing piece omitted to more clearly illustrate details of construction.

Figure 3 is a View partly in section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1. V

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken on the line il of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a View partly in section showing a View similar to Figure 3 of a modified construction.

As illustrated my chair has two front legs 12,.

and two rear legs 53, each pair of said front and rear legs being preferably opposite or in alinement with each other, and each said pair having a cross bar it extending between the legs, which bars M are leveled off as at l lo, at their front ends, the end portions of said cross bars i i preferably being bolted as at l5 to said front and rearlegs.

A seat l5, commonly made of a plurality of slats, has a front portion shown in the form of two separate slats the first or front slat being but am entitled to all such 1937, Serial No; 128,302

liia and the second one in from the front of my chair beingltb. Said slats are mainly supported by said cross bars M. A back I1 is also pro vided which is preferably made of a plurality of slats as shown. Arms lS'eXtend from each said 5 front leg to and beyond each rear leg, and are fastened to said legs by pin means as at l9, which arms support a transverse'brace 2! extending between them'at the rear of said back ll. Below said transverse brace 2! are reinforcing members 22 which extend diagonally across from one said leg to another. At the front of said front legs i2 isa reinforcing piece 23 which is fastened to said legs I 2 and extends from one to the other and is substantially flush with their outer sur- 15 faces. i i

In order to strengthen my chair and to prevent any weaving or loose movement of the parts bearing the greatest strain, each of said legs l2 and E3 is provided with a recess 25 cut or otherwise formed inthe inner side surface intermediate the top. and bottom edges of said legs, which recesses 25 extend diagonally downward from front to back, and in which end portions of said cross bars Mfit, as shown in the drawing. Said recesses 25 are quite shallow and only that partof said cross bars is representing a small fraction of their thickness extend into said recesses. As will be seen the bottom surfaces of said cross bars l4 in said recesses 25 bear against the lower shoulders 26 which the cut-out portions 25 provide in said legs, whereby said cross bars M are actually supported by portions of said legs 12 in the'form of said lower shoulde'rs 26, instead of depending upon bolts to hold said cross bars and legs together as heretofore. This construction prevents any appreciable forward or rearward movement of said front and rear legs 12 and E3, or anyvertical movement of said cross bars I l, whereas in the common construction of such chairs the Crossbars rest flush against the inner surface of said legs, and said legs and cross bars may move somewhat relative to eachother even when the bolts l5 holding them together are tight. It is the loose- 45 ness, which develops while in use, between said legs and said cross bars which is the bane of this type of chair. While the said recess 25 in a said front leg I2 is in the upper portion thereof, and the recess 25 in a said rear leg is in the lower portion thereof as shown in the drawing, as a matter of fact the distance from said recess to the top edge of a said front leg is the same as the distance from said recess to the bottom edge of a said rear leg whereby a front leg is interchangeable with a rear leg, in other words a leg may be used as a front or as a rear leg, thus simplifying production as Well as reducing the number of different parts which go to make up my chair.

To further strengthen my chair the sec-- ond slat in from the front of the chair l6b, which constitutes part of the front portion of said seat l6, has a cut-out portion 28 at each end, said cut-out 28 extending from the front edge of said slat l6b rearwardly a short distance and forming a right angle as illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawing. This enables one to fit the slat IBb against the front legs whereby the cut-out end portion 28 extends within and bears against the inner side surface of each said front leg l2 while the remaining portion of said outout 28 continues at right angles and bears against the back end surfaces of said front legs l2, as illustrated at 29 in Figures 3 and 5 of the drawing, thereby further reinforcing and making more rigid said front legs l2 by means of said seat portion IBb.

Chairs have a tendency to weave or rock especially at their front portion and in order to increase the rigidity of the front portion and especially the front legs I2, I preferably cut out at each end of said front reinforcing piece 23 a portion of the inner surface as illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawing, said cut-out portion being represented by the numeral 30. It extends inwardly from the extreme ends of said front reinforcing piece 23 only far enough to permit said front legs l2 and the front ends of said cross bars I4, to enter said front reinforcing piece 23, the inner side surfaces of said cross bars [4 bearing against the shoulder 32 formed at the inner termination of said cut-out portion 30 as shown in Figure 3 of the drawing.

In the modification shown in Figure 5 of the drawing the cut-out portion 30 is only large enough to accommodate and permit the entry of a said front leg l2, in which construction the cross bars do not extend into said cut-out portion 30. Also the ends of said seat front slat I6a extend in front of each said front leg l2 and are substantially flush with the outer side surfaces of said legs l2. This is made possible by lengthening said slat and in this longer portion lfiaa a cut-out portion 3| is provided at the extreme ends thereof, the front and inner surfaces of said front legs bearing against said cut-out portion 3! as shown in said Figure 5.

What I claim is:

l. A chair comprising two front legs and two rear legs with bars extending between the front and rear legs and to the front edges of the front legs, said bars being secured to said legs, and a reinforcing piece extending between said front legs and having rebated extremities into each of which a front leg and the extremity of one of said bars secured thereto, is fitted.

2. A chair comprising two front legs and two rear legs with bars extending between the front and rear legs and to the front edges of the front legs, said bars being secured to said legs, and a reinforcing piece extending between said front legs and having rebated extremities into each of which a front leg and the extremity of one of said bars secured thereto, is fitted, said bars extending diagonally downward from the respective front legs, to the rear legs.

3. A chair comprising two front legs and two rear legs with bars extending between the front and rear legs and to the front edges of the front legs, and a reinforcing piece extending between said front legs and having rebated extremities into each of which a front leg and the extremity of one said bars secured thereto, is fitted, said bars extending diagonally downward from the respective front legs to the rear legs and fitted in diagonal recesses formed in the inner sides of said front and rear legs.

ROY H. WILLIAMS. 

